Broken Together
is the second episode of the fifteenth season and the 319th overall episode of Grey's Anatomy. Short Summary New doctors continue to shake up the hospital in typical Grey Sloan manner. Meredith bonds with a patient while Jackson struggles with the meaning behind recent experiences, and after making a life-changing decision, Jo forms an unexpected alliance. Full Summary In another dream, Meredith and Andrew are kissing in her bed when Link comes out of the bathroom. A second Meredith appears in the chair next to the bed and starts judging the Meredith in bed. Meredith wakes up with a gasp and looks around her dark and empty room. She gets out of bed. Owen and Amelia are kissing in their kitchen. He picks her up and carries her to the couch. There are toys there, so they decide to move it to the bedroom. However, they then hear noises that mean Betty is still awake, and soon after Leo starts crying. Owen runs off to go see Leo. Meredith enters her kitchen and finds Maggie sitting there. She just got here. As Meredith talks about her vivid dreams, she finds a large supply of milk in the fridge. Amelia comes in and tells her sisters that she nearly slept with Owen. Maggie says Jackson half-proposed. She used milk as an excuse and left. So she had to get milk. She doesn't want to tell Jackson she's not ready, but it's just too soon. It's like Amelia and her instant family. She almost tells them about Teddy, but claims they need toiler paper and rushes off. In the ICU, Jackson leaves Maggie a message to inform her he's back at the hospital due to Nisha spiking a fever. Cece is worried, but Nisha herself is still high on painkillers. She openly flirts with Jackson. Cece says they'll work on the nuance later. Taryn then calls for a crash cart when Cece goes into V-tach. Jackson comes over and defibrillates a couple of times. Cece regains consciousness. Levi then calls Jackson back to Cece's bed because her heart rate's rising. Jackson says it's going to be a long night. Link comes to inspect the new hyperbaric chamber. He likens it to a moon spa. Bailey says it will radically decrease healing time. Link asks if she's still the go-to person for requisitions or if that'll be the new Chief. Bailey says she's still undecided. Link understands she doesn't want someone too good or she won't be missed. Amelia paged Owen to the breezeway. They share a kiss and he tells her how his morning went. A car pulls up and a young boy holding a dog gets out. He asks for help. A teenage girl gets out of the car from behind the wheel and says their parents need help. Their parents were on a motorcycle and the father's head is bleeding heavily. The mother says they crashed when they were avoiding the dog. The father wasn't wearing a helmet. Cece is singing "Someone to Watch Over Me" to Nisha. Levi urges Cece to get back in her bed, but she ignores him. Jackson is briefing Meredith outside on Cece going into V-tach four times last night. Until the dialysis normalizes Cece's electrolyte levels, she'll continue to be at risk for arrhythmias. Levi tells Meredith that Nisha is septic. Her parents are on a flight back from Tokyo and Cece won't leave her side until they are here. Meredith thanks Jackson for staying with Cece because she found her to be too aggressive with her matchmaking. Jackson agrees. He advises Meredith to tell Cece that she's married to her work, which offends Meredith. He deviates by talking about the hyperbaric chamber and leaves. Taryn tells Meredith she is successful. Jackson agrees as he's walking off. Meredith repeats she's not married and faces Link as she turns around. He says that's cool, neither is he. Richard reminds Bailey that many people call him Chief out of habit. She tells him it won't be him, because one day she wants the job back. She goes back to the quiet hyperbaric chamber. Meredith asks Taryn to arrange for an ultrasound with contrast and a cardiac MRI. She wants to make sure Cece's tanking kidneys aren't tanking her heart. Taryn says she can relate to being married to your work, because she is married to general surgery, too. Meredith dismisses her. Jo and Alex come up. They need to talk to her. In a conference room, Jo has presented Meredith with her idea. Her idea might work for all kinds of cancer. Meredith says she's pissed now, because Jo is waving the future of medicine in her face and taking it to Boston. Jo says she actually wants Meredith to create a fellowship here so she can continue to work on the mini livers and her new idea. Meredith immediately gets up to go clear it with Bailey. Owen tells Cheryl she's fine. Cheryl says she's embarrassed about the accident. Her husband had a motorcycle in college and it made him happy so she wanted to support him now. She saw him working on the bike in the garage and he looked really good. Her son Hank comes in to say he lost the dog. As they exit the trauma room, Owen instructs Dahlia to find the dog. Owen checks with Amelia, who tells him they have to rule out a skull fracture on the dad. Casey finally catches up with Maggie, who paged him to a stairwell 20 minutes ago but kept on walking because she's stressed. He understands her stressing over Teddy's secret. He's working with Owen and Amelia and he feels like he's lying to his superior officer. Maggie hates secrets. They can destroy your relationships and Amelia is so happy, completely oblivious to the love child that's going to drop on her and Owen's relationship like a bomb. Maggie hates that she's comparing babies to bombs now. She used to be sane, but she is sleep deprived and she was sort of proposed to. Casey inquires about the proposal, but Maggie dismisses him. She walks up to Jackson. She apologizes about not coming back last night, but she drove to the wrong house and got tired. Levi tells Jackson that Nisha's cultures are back. Jackson tells Maggie they'll talk later. He enters the room and orders Cece to get back in her own bed. He tells Nisha she had necrotizing fasciitis. They need to get her to an OR. Nisha tells him what to say to her mom if she doesn't make it. Cece tells her she's just getting started. Jackson then changes his mind and tells Levi to take Nisha to the basement instead. He runs off to find Bailey. Meredith finds Bailey relaxing in the hyperbaric chamber and shares her plan to invent a surgical innovation fellowship. Bailey says she spent a lot of money on this chamber, so the only way she could find money to hire Jo as a fellow would be to lose Alex after all. But then she'd have to replace him, so there is no money. Jackson comes and says he wants to debride his patient's wound in here because a study has proven better outcomes with a high flow of oxygen. Since they can't use electricity in here, it would take hours of him and his staff being stuck in here. Jackson says if Andrew hadn't pulled him out of the way, he would be hurt instead of Nisha. He begs Bailey to say yes. Meredith returns to Jo and Alex and says there is no money. Meredith suggests they go to Boston until there's more money available, but Jo already called them to turn the fellowship down. She has no job. Jackson and Levi enter the hyperbaric chamber. She reminds them of the time it'll take to depressurize the chamber, which can't happen too fast without putting them at risk of severe side effects. Jackson closes the door on her. He and Levi pop their ears per her last instructions. The team gets to work. Amelia shares with the family that the father has a skull fracture with a small bleed. She needs to operate to drain it. This could have been much worse. Wynnie refuses to take her brother to the cafeteria. She had to drive her parents here without her license. They all could have been dead. While the father is taken to surgery, Owen offers to show the family to the waiting area. Dahlia then returns with the dog. Hank wants to keep the stray, but Wynnie's allergic. Hank puts it down and it runs off, so Owen has Dahlia chase after it again. Taryn shows Meredith the most recent labs. Cece's still hyperkalemic. She and Maggie can go over the MRI results when they are available. Meredith notices the way Taryn looks at her, but Taryn pretends it's nothing. Meredith leaves with Maggie. They enter the tech room where Amelia is looking at the skull fracture scans. Meredith shares that her patient is a matchmaker. Dahlia briefly checks if the dog's in the room. Amelia recalls a patient from L.A. who used a matchmaker. She likes that they weed out the creeps and get you to that pre-vetted place where she and Owen are right now. Maggie is not enthusiastic about their newly budding relationship. Meredith wonders if she's married to her work. They study the scan together. Cece's heart is barely pumping. While Jackson is debriding, Levi shares that he's a bit claustrophobic. Outside the chamber, Link discovers what's going on. He didn't sign off on this and now he wants in. The doctors find that the communication system is broken. Bailey can't let him in since it's already pressurized. Levi is starting to panic while Link's colleague Nico Kim peeks inside. Cece's singing to herself. She asks Meredith about Nisha. Meredith sends Taryn for an update, but Cece crashes again at that moment. Taryn brings in the crash cart and they defibrillate. Richard asks Andrew for a short statement about the OR fire. Andrew says he's fine. He feels better, actually. It's like the fire woke up him and he's ready to save lives. Dahlia runs by while chasing the dog. Maggie's doing an ultrasound on Cece's heart. She wants to do a biopsy. Cece knows what that entails. Meredith gives Taryn instructions to prepare Cece and Taryn happily obliges. Once the attendings are gone, Cece tells Taryn she spent 35 years of her life falling for straight woman. She can save Taryn from a whole life of misery. Meredith runs into Link as he exits the hyperbaric medicine lab. Dahlia and the dog run past them. Link introduces himself. Meredith clears up her marital status update from earlier. She does have a life after work. He suggests a drink later, but she has a late surgery. She reads his badge and finds his full name's Atticus Lincoln. She can't believe he's named after two great figures and he calls himself Link. He says it's shorter. While Andrew and Casey are setting up the patient in the OR, Amelia tells Owen in the scrub room that it looks like a simple procedure. Owen wonders if they are on a motorcycle without a helmet. Last time they did this, there were no strings. Leo and Betty are stable now and he wants to make sure they are not being reckless around them. They agree to talk later. Levi is doing better. Nisha has steady vitals. Jackson finally finds viable tissue. Bailey, Nico, and Link cheer outside. Jackson says they had to do their best because life is too short not to. Levi wonders if that is also why he proposed. Jackson says he did not propose. Alex and Jo are at Joe's. Jo hates that she made him quit his job and now neither of them has one. Alex suggests she call Boston, but she thinks she only applied for the fellowship because she could. She didn't stop to consider what she wants. She hates Boston, it feels like she's moving backwards with her life. Jo wants to talk to Bailey again. Jackson's almost done, but Nisha's vitals drop. Link yells to look under the drapes, but it takes a while before Jackson gets the message. Once he does, they find that the infection has spread to the ex fix. He needs to take out the hardware. Maggie's doing the biopsy. It's still unsure if Cece's rejecting the heart again, but she's definitely in congestive heart failure. The kidney failure doesn't help since it'll prevent Cece from getting a third heart. Maggie thinks Meredith's upset because she wanted to hire Cece. Meredith points out Maggie has her own romantic troubles. Maggie decides to insert an internal defibrillator to buy Cece some time. So Meredith can hire her. Nisha goes into V-fib so they turn her on her back to start CPR. There are no paddles since they can't use electricity. Jackson begs her to live. In post-op, Amelia shares with her patient and his family that she doesn't expect any deficits. He's never getting on that motorcycle again. He thought he wanted to relive something, but it's not worth it because he likes what he has now. He'll find a way to get rid of the bike. Jackson has been doing CPR for 35 minutes. Maggie joins the doctors outside. They have given Nisha 7 rounds of epi. Maggie says Nisha's gone. Inside, Jackson gives up. He quickly calls time of death. He wants to be let out right now, but the doctors outside can't do that. Maggie and Meredith are with Cece. She's on the list for kidneys and another heart. Cece understands it'll be difficult, but she's more concerned about Nisha. The doctors deliver the bad news. Cece realizes she killed Nisha and says she doesn't want the heart. She breaks down. Jackson and Levi are sitting and waiting in the hyperbaric chamber. Jackson keeps staring at Nisha's body. Owen paged Amelia to a bench outside. He says he wants the strings. He always has. He wants kids and the fighting and a noisy house. The question is if she does, too. She admits she's scared of the strings. The tumor's gone, but she's still an addict. Addicts tend to fear thing. There's a wariness of change and commitment. She doesn't want to be reckless with the kids and threaten their stability, so she's going to try and be less wary. They hold hands and kiss. A tired Dahlia is walking down a hallway. She sits down on a gurney for a minute. The dog appears out of nowhere. He jumps onto the gurney and starts licking her face. Richard visits Bailey in her office. He heard about Nisha. The chamber would have worked with any other type of infection. She thinks he's still pitching for the job. Richard says he won't be better than her because he's been out of this office for a while. Bailey asks him if he has a new sponsor after Ollie's death. He thinks she's been talking to Catherine, but she remembers what happened last time he was Chief. She does not want to add his plate right now. Richard angrily leaves to go attend a meeting. Jo and Alex come in as he leaves. Jo needs 5 minutes to explain why she is the future of medicine. She hands Bailey her cards. Bailey finds Meredith at the nurses' station and tells her she was right about Jo's idea. She officially made Jo the first surgical innovation fellow of Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital. Meredith hugs her and thanks her. Bailey wrote a personal check for the money. She won't be sorry because she will be running the fellowship. Meredith is not happy that Bailey stole Jo and the fellowship from her. Bailey says she didn't. She took it. She's stepping back from her job to find joy and tranquility and Jo's fellowship will give her both those things. Also, she had the will and means to take it. She suggests Meredith go find some joy of her own, and if that doesn't work, she can take it up with the Chief. That's no longer her. Meredith enters the Chief's office and finds Alex sitting in the chair. He's exhilarated. Jo gets her fellowship and he gets to stay in this sweet office. Meredith gets him, because he's staying. Alex gets that Jo was Meredith's work wife for a while, but it's time for her to move on to her own stuff. Meredith is not happy. Jo is telling Levi and Taryn about her fellowship. Dahlia sits down with them. She brought the dog, which apparently is hers now. Nico sits down next to Levi and hands him a beer to recuperate after his rough day. Levi brings out his wallet to pay him back, but Nico puts his hand on Levi's to stop him. He can get the next one. Nico walks away from the bar and Levi stares after him. Andrew pulls up on the patient's motorcycle as Richard leaves the hospital. Andrew offers him a chance to see what the bike feels like. He initially declines, but then accepts the offer. He likes the feeling as he asks Andrew for the helmet. Maggie and Jackson are overlooking the city at a spot near the water. She apologizes about last night. He understands now why she panicked, but he does not get why Nisha is dead while they are alive. They were pulled out of the way while Nisha wasn't. Maggie thinks he has some PTSD. His whole world changed and April left. He's genuinely happy for her. Maggie says his family empire crumbled, which was hard on him. He counters that he also fell in love. He tells her he loves her. She reciprocates and they share a kiss. He apologizes about his accidental proposal. He guesses he does have some things to figure out. Meredith enters Cece's room and stresses that it was an accident. Cece has to get a new heart. Nisha would want her to. Cece turns her head away. Meredith says she needs Cece's help. She is married to her work and she doesn't want to be. Cece tells her to have a seat and they start talking. Cast 15x02MeredithGrey.png|Meredith Grey 15x02AlexKarev.png|Alex Karev 15x02MirandaBailey.png|Miranda Bailey 15x02RichardWebber.png|Richard Webber 15x02OwenHunt.png|Owen Hunt 15x02JacksonAvery.png|Jackson Avery 15x02AmeliaShepherd.png|Amelia Shepherd 15x02JoKarev.png|Jo Karev 15x02MaggiePierce.png|Maggie Pierce 15x02AndrewDeLuca.png|Andrew DeLuca 15x02AtticusLincoln.png|Atticus Lincoln 15x02CeceColvin.png|Cece Colvin 15x02CherylGiles.png|Cheryl Giles 15x02LeviSchmitt.png|Levi Schmitt 15x02DahliaQadri.png|Dahlia Qadri 15x02Nisha.png|Nisha 15x02CaseyParker.png|Casey Parker 15x02TarynHelm.png|Taryn Helm 15x02DougGiles.png|Doug Giles 15x02NicoKim.png|Nico Kim 15x02WynnieGiles.png|Wynnie Giles 15x02HankGiles.png|Hank Giles 15x02DrKnox.png|Dr. Knox Main Cast *Ellen Pompeo as Dr. Meredith Grey *Justin Chambers as Dr. Alex Karev *Chandra Wilson as Dr. Miranda Bailey *James Pickens, Jr. as Dr. Richard Webber *Kevin McKidd as Dr. Owen Hunt *Jesse Williams as Dr. Jackson Avery *Caterina Scorsone as Dr. Amelia Shepherd *Camilla Luddington as Dr. Jo Karev *Kelly McCreary as Dr. Maggie Pierce *Giacomo Gianniotti as Dr. Andrew DeLuca *Kim Raver as Dr. Teddy Altman (credit only) Guest Stars *Chris Carmack as Dr. Atticus Lincoln *Caroline Clay as Cece Colvin *Bayne Gibby as Cheryl Giles *Jake Borelli as Dr. Levi Schmitt *Sophia Ali as Dr. Dahlia Qadri *Rima Rajan as Nisha Co-Starring *Alex Blue Davis as Casey Parker *Jaicy Elliot as Taryn Helm *Vic Chao as Doug Giles *Alex Landi as Nico Kim *Sarah Blades as Wynnie *Duncan Joiner as Hank *Payton Silver as Dr. Knox Medical Notes Nisha *'Diagnosis:' **Necrotizing fasciitis *'Doctors:' **Jackson Avery (plastic surgeon) **Levi Schmitt (surgical intern) *'Treatment:' **Surgical debridement **Hyperbaric therapy Nisha had a fever post-op from an infection. They checked her wound and Jackson said he'd change her antibiotics. Then her heart rate spiked. They put her on pressors. Tests showed necrotizing fasciitis, so they took her to the hyperbaric chamber and Jackson used a scalpel to debride her wound. The debridement was going well and they finally reached viable tissue, but then she crashed. Link had them pull back the drapes to check her external fixation. The infection had spread there. Jackson started to remove the fixation, but she coded and they were unable to restore sinus rhythm. She was pronounced dead at 18:21. Cece Colvin *'Diagnosis:' **Arrhythmias **Congestive heart failure *'Doctors:' **Meredith Grey (general surgeon) **Jackson Avery (plastic surgeon) **Maggie Pierce (cardiothoracic surgeon) **Taryn Helm (surgical intern) *'Treatment:' **Internal defibrillator **Amiodarone Cece crashed, but was able to be resuscitated. They put her on amiodarone. Meredith ordered an MRI of her heart, which showed that her heart was barely pumping blood. When Meredith went to tell her, she crashed, but Meredith was able to resuscitate her. Maggie then did a heart biopsy. She had congestive heart failure and would also need a heart transplant. They put in an internal defibrillator to prolong her time while she waited for a transplant. Doug Giles *'Diagnosis:' **Scalp laceration **Skull fracture **Brain bleed *'Doctors:' **Amelia Shepherd (neurosurgeon) **Casey Parker (surgical intern) *'Treatment:' **Surgery Doug crashed a motorcycle avoiding a dog and sustained a head injury. He had a scalp laceration with step off, so Amelia ordered tests to check for a skull fracture. He had a skull fracture with a bleed underneath, so he was taken for surgery. His surgery went well and he was expected to recover fully. Cheryl Giles *'Diagnosis:' **Contusions **Lacerations *'Doctors:' **Owen Hunt (trauma surgeon) **Dahlia Qadri (surgical intern) *'Treatment:' **Bandaging Cheryl was in a motorcycle crash with her husband. She had only a few bruises and cuts on her hands. Music "Shake Shake" - Nessi "Cash Is Always King" - Markey Blue "Someone to Watch over Me" - Sleeping at Last "Now I Can Fly" - RAIGN Notes and Trivia *This episode's title originated from the song , originally sung by Casting Crowns. *This episode scored 6.81 million viewers. Gallery Episode Stills 15x02-1.jpg 15x02-2.jpg Behind the Scenes 15x02BTS1.jpg 15x02BTS2.jpg 15x02BTS3.jpg 15x02BTS4.jpg 15x02BTS5.jpg 15x02BTS6.jpg Quotes :Jo: I need you to give me five minutes to explain why the future is here and the future is me. My future, my future medicine. :Bailey: Are you drunk, Wilson? :Jo: Only mostly. ---- :Maggie: I'm sorry about last night. :Jackson: I don't understand. :Maggie: Well, I panicked because I... :Jackson: No. Sorry. That I understand. I get why you panicked. I don't get why Nisha's dead and we're alive. We were pulled out of the way of a car and she wasn't. Why? :Maggie: Jackson, I think you have a little PTSD. :Jackson: It's not about the van... It's not just the van, I... :Maggie: Your whole world changed. And then April. :Jackson: I'm happy for April. :Maggie: I know that. I know that. Your family empire crumbled, Jackson. It's a lot. You've been through a lot. :Jackson: Maybe. I fell in love, though. Well, I mean, if you're, like, making a list of big things that... I love you, Maggie. :Maggie: I love you, too. ---- :Owen: I want the strings. I have always wanted the strings. I want the kids, I want the noisy house, I want the fighting, I want the dog. I want the strings, Amelia. So, I guess the real question is, do you? :Amelia: I'm scared of them. I'm still a little scared. I mean, the tumor is gone, but I'm still an addict. :Owen: Recovering. :Amelia: Yeah. Recovering. But addicts tend to have certain character traits in common, and that includes fear, you know? A certain wariness of change and commitment. And mini vans. :Owen: Hey, no one is getting a mini van. :Amelia: I don't want to be reckless with the kids. I don't want to threaten their stability. :Owen: Okay. So... :Amelia: So, I'm gonna try to be less wary. I'm really, really gonna try. ---- :Bailey: You were right. :Meredith: About what? :Bailey: Jo Wilson's idea. It is full of marvel and wonder, and it's gonna happen. :Meredith: Really?! :Bailey: I just made her the first official recipient of the first surgical innovation fellowship at Grey-Sloan Memorial. :Meredith: Oh, Dr. Bailey! Thank you! You won't regret it, I promise. Where did you get the money? :Bailey: I wrote a personal check. And I know I won't be sorry, because I'm running it. Jo Wilson will be my fellow. :Meredith: What? You bought Jo Wilson? :Bailey: I saw it as an opportunity to invest in the future of medicine. I'm downright philanthropic. :Meredith: You stole her. You stole Jo and you stole my fellowship? :Bailey: Hey, I didn't steal anything. I took it because I'm taking a step back from my job in order to find a little joy, a little tranquility, and when Wilson pitched me her sci-fi space-medicine-of-the-future fellowship, I thought, "That, Miranda Bailey, that will give you joy and tranquility." So I took it because I wanted it, and also because I had the will and the means to take it, and you did not. So, I suggest that you do as I am doing and go find yourself some joy. And if that doesn't work, take it up with the chief, 'cause that ain't me. ---- :Meredith: You're chief? :Alex: No idea why. :Meredith: You're chief?! :Alex: Interim chief. It's temporary. And it's a win-win for everyone. Jo gets this killer fellowship, and I get this sweet office. :Meredith: How is that a win for me? :Alex: You get me. I'm staying. All right, I get it. Jo was your work wife for a minute, but now she needs to move on to her own stuff. It's not like she's cheating on you. You'll get to see her in the hallways. :Meredith: With Bailey, who made you chief. :Alex: Oh, you sound like a jealous girlfriend. ---- :Meredith: It was an accident. You were hurt, and Nisha was hurt. And you have to get a new heart because Nisha would want you to. And because I need you. I need your help. I am married to my work, and I don't want to be. :Cece: Have a seat. See Also fr:Broken Together Category:All Episodes Category:GA Episodes Category:GA S15 Episodes